Jay Wilson Heefner

Jay Wilson Heefner II died in April after a yearlong battle with colon cancer.

Heefner was born in Nov. 1960 in St. Louis, Mo. to Dr. Wilson and Pat Heefner. He graduated from Lincoln High School in Stockton, Calif. in 1987, excelling academically and competing on the football and track teams.

He graduated summa cum laude with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of the Pacific in 1983 and was a member of Phi Kappa Phi.

In 1987, he received UOP's first master's degree in electrical engineering. At UOP, Heefner developed his lifelong love of lacrosse. Indirectly, this passion led him to Alice Caerbert, the love of his life. They were married in June 1987. Along the way, they welcomed children Heather Jan, Leah Jay and Maxwell Richard.

Heefner's forte with physics research led to a career that took them on a cross-country journey that always included church, work and sports. His early career included research positions at LLNL, the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility project in Newport News, Va., and the Super Conducting Super Collider in Red Oak, Texas.

For the last 18 years, he worked on the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory at Caltech.

He coached the many teams on which his children played. He also was a regular competitor in the Mt. Wilson Trail Run. He used his gift for teaching to touch the lives of hundreds of young athletes in the community.

A celebration of Heefner's life will be held at Sierra Madre Congregational Church at 10 a.m., April 20. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Alice Heefner for the Heefner Educational Fund (Account # 07651-68102) at any Bank of America branch.